As a mother, have you ever received a missed call from your domestic manager or nanny and felt like your world is about to crumble? By the way, it doesn’t only have to be a missed call, just a call from your nanny is enough to make you fall into a temporary coma.
To mothers, most of these calls are ‘emergency’ calls and need to be acted on immediately. No sane mother will sit in a meeting and watch her phone ring to the end if it is the nanny calling. Sometimes, we unconciously rush out of meetings without excusing ourselves only to crawl back shamefully while avoiding eye contact with the boss.
If our nannies knew what power their calls hold, they would avoid calling as much as possible - unless it is an emergency. The other day, I was in a meeting away from my phone and two hours later, a glance at my phone almost gave me a heart attack.
I had four missed calls from my baby’s nanny and the things that ran through my mind are enough to get me admitted to a mental institution. All of a sudden, I had a serious stomach ache and was running around looking for the washrooms as I struggled to call back.
A million questions ran through my mind and her not answering my call made things worse. After dialing three times with no response, I called the security personel at the main gate yelling that there was an emergency in my house and begging them to rush there immediately.
I even called five neighbours asking them, no wait, ordering them to run to my house and save the situation. Meanwhile, I sat in the washroom having the deadliest running stomach.
Ten minutes later, as I lay flat in the washroom asking God a million questions, my house manager called back and I received the call crying pleading with her to tell me what the matter was. She went quiet for seconds probably trying to figure out why I was crying then calmly whispered, “Mama Sori, stima ndio ilikuwa imepotea.”
You should have seen the joy on my face. The relief! Later on, I had to deal with angry neighbours accusing me of everything they could think of. Maybe they just have no idea what it takes to receive a missed call from the one person who spends the day with your baby. I would rather receive a missed call from a ghost and not from her.
Recently, I saw a friend almost being ran over because of the confusion after receiving a missed called from her domestic manager. We had travelled out of town together for a week on official duty. Early in the morning three days into our trip, her nanny called.
Unfortunately, my friend was in the shower when the phone was ringing. She only discovered the missed call an hour later as we were heading for breakfast. She dropped everything and started running down the staircase yelling, “Baby, I am on my way!”
If my colleagues and I hadn’t held her down, she probably would have ran across two counties to get to her house. Who knows? These missed calls are enough to turn mothers into great marathon runners.
Later on after she calmed down and called back, her house manager told her that her baby just wanted to say hi to her on phone. That’s why she called very early...so she could catch her before she got busy.
So the next time you see a previously calm woman turning into a wailing lunatic or marathon runner after glancing at her phone, don't be afraid. The shock of ‘5 missed calls’ doesn’t give us time to think. All I wish is our trusted nannies realise how powerful their calls are and use the opportunities wisely. You cannot call someone five times to ask what’s for dinner. You might end up killing your boss!